DENVER —
Denver mayoral candidate Kwame Spearman claimed a survey by advocates for the homeless found most don’t want a home. The survey found the exact opposite.
The CEO of Tattered Cover Book Store has made a crackdown on homelessness a focus of his campaign for Denver mayor.
Spearman has previously said that people experiencing homelessness are “exploiting the system.”
“We’re creating conditions where, in many cases, it can be more enticing to go to an encampment than to get a good job,” Spearman told conservative talk radio station KNUS on Feb. 14.
Spearman made a false claim about a homelessness survey during the 9NEWS debate Feb. 16 featuring 13 candidates for Denver mayor.
Spearman said a survey by the advocacy group Denver Homeless Out Loud found that “52% of our unhoused would prefer to live in a tent than other housing options.” That is not true.
The 2021 survey asked 109 unhoused individuals in Denver to rank their choice of three housing options: a house, a tent, or a shelter. Of the 109 people surveyed, 91 individuals, or 83%, said a house was their first choice. Only 18 people, or 16.5%, chose a tent as their first choice for housing. No respondents chose a city shelter as their first choice.
On Friday, the Spearman told 9NEWS he misinterpreted the survey results, but he doubled down with a misleading claim about the survey within hours.
“I was incorrect in saying 52% of our unhoused would prefer to live in a tent than other housing options, the correct figure is 48% as a second choice,” Spearman posted on Twitter.
Spearman did not mention the overwhelming first choice of the unhoused citizens surveyed: a house.
The co-founder of Denver Homeless Out Loud suggested that mayoral candidates gain a better understanding of the issue by talking to people experiencing homelessness.
“It just shows a lack of understanding of what's actually happening on the ground,” DHOL’s Ben Dunning said. "They're creating the ideas inside their head and then trying to convince other people that they that they know what's happening.”
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